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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23727868">The Letter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisie/pseuds/Lisie'>Lisie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Lord Commander [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XIV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Mild Smut, Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:14:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,871</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23727868</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisie/pseuds/Lisie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an off shoot from something else I'm writing - it's one of the ideas I have for later on in the story, but I don't know if I will include it. I just thought it was cute and wanted to get it down before I forget it cause its pretty far in the future.</p><p>I've (naughtily) decided to include it in my wonderous tales series, as it was written the night I discovered the event. It belongs to the prompt "Pulling an All Nighter" even though that totally isn't how prompts are supposed to work.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aymeric de Borel/Warrior of Light</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Lord Commander [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714444</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XIV - Aymeric de Borel x WoL Recommendations</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Letter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was late in the night, and Aymeric de Borel was feeling very content, enjoying the warmth of the roaring fire from his position on the couch. He was seated upright, his fingers absent mindedly running through her mahogany hair, occassionally catching a strand between his fingertips as she dozed on her side, her head nestled snuggly on his lap, legs curled up in front of her. How exactly he had come to be in this position was a very long story, filled with many ups and downs, which he would quite happily go through a thousand times more, if it meant that he ended up in this same spot.<br/>
The woman - a tall, pale skinned, slim Hyur - had stirred, her legs stretching out over the arm of the couch, her body twisting as she turned to look up at the man's face above her. She smiled weakly at him, her sleepy eyes taking a moment to focus on his sharp but handsome features. He felt the tumult of emotions he now so readily accepted only she, and only ever she, could send coursing through him. She reached up with one arm, sliding her hand behind his ear, her thumb gliding from base to tip, before catching a strand of wavy black hair and tugging on it lightly. "Having fun?" she asked through her smile, her amber eyes twinkling playfully. Her motion had made him shudder in pleasure. Inhaling sharply, his fingers, which had been busy with her hair, moved across her cheek, the tips coming to rest on her jawline, before he doubled over, bringing his lips gently down on hers. "Mmm", he assented after they had parted.<br/>
It had been so very long since he'd last seen her. Her travels taking her across the world, and his duties leaving him here; he regretted neither of those things though. She was The Warrior of Light, and he was the Lord Speaker - the two had long accepted that their identities would keep them apart, but that didn't mean it had to keep them from spending what time they could, together.<br/>
He straightened his back once more, and she raised her hands up above her head for one final stretch before sitting up next to him, her legs swinging off the couch onto the floor. "Sorry," she said in her perfectly articulated, but gentle voice, the sleepy haze all but gone, "I was too excited on the journey here and didn't get a wink of sleep".</p><p>Aymeric, now feeling his lap was distinctly lonely, wrapped his arm across her back, gripping her by the waist, and pulled her into place, her knees falling either side of him. She didn't resist, her palms immediately reaching for his shoulders, her body tilting forward to come to rest on his chest. He circled his arms around her, pulling her in even closer. He whispered gently into her ear, "It's okay, as long as you're here, I don't mind." She buried her face into his neck, her hands clutching his shirt. "I missed you so much." she mumbled, barely audibly. He shut his eyes tight whilst savouring the feel of her body against his, before loosening his grip. She pulled away slightly so that they were now face-to-face, her teeth awkwardly nibbling on her lower lip, his hands sliding down to come to rest on her thighs. He smiled in response, his eyes communicating everything she needed to know about how much he too had missed her. "How is work?" she asked, her voice rising in volume, altering the mood between them, her head cocked to one side. </p><p>Aymeric squinted, his eyebrows creasing, as he searched for something he thought would interest her most. Once he had decided, he looked to her, his expression clearing, and began his story, "Today, we covered drafted legislation pertaining to the State's responsibilities towards those dispossessed of their property as a result of the actions of the State." He felt the woman perched on his legs perk up in interest. A boring topic for most, he knew it would probably send her into quivering delight, and he was not wrong. She launched into an animated monologue, citing various sources from history, and civilisations long disappeared from the map, who had instituted various different policies handling the matter of peoples dispossessed by war, or resettlement. She was definitely Scholar first, Warrior Second. He listened with rapt attention, her words never failing to bring to light something he had never heard before, or never thought of himself. When she had finished her part, they launched into heated discussion about the topic, only finishing when the fire had burned into nothing more than embers. Though she showed no signs of stopping, Aymeric, realizing they were both ice cold, put an end to it with a decisive, "Bed."<br/>
She looked confused for a moment, dejected the next, before probably realizing how cold and tired she was. Her arms suddenly folded in front of her, her hands gripping her own shirt, giving one violent whole-body shiver. Aymeric placed both his hands on her waist, and lifted her up with him. Her cold legs gave way from having been in the same position for so long, but Aymeric caught and steadied her, before slipping his one arm behind her shoulder, the other in the crook of her knees and lifted her into his arms. </p><p>"Bath?" She squirmed," Um - you would need to call your steward and I wouldn't want to wake him. I'll go first thing in the morning." 
"Would you like something to eat? I can manage that much on my own. " he asked, as he carried her to the bedroom. "No, I ate before I arrived here. I promised Lucia I would have a meal with her in the Forgotten Knight before I stole you away for the weekend." It irked him that his Second in Command had stolen even a minute of his brief time with her, but he knew that the girl in his arms probably really enjoyed catching up. "Should I invite her here to have dinner with us tomorrow?" They had reached the bed, Aymeric placing her gently onto it, before shuffling off to find some more comfortable clothes for her to sleep in. She was silent while Aymeric opened and closed drawers, eventually pulling out a red silk shirt. He grinned triumphantly at his prize, the shirt an identical colour and style to the ones she so often wore on her travels - apart from its size, which would undoubtably reach down to her thighs. As he made his way back to the bed, shirt in hand, he realized she was staring at him questioningly. He stopped in his tracks asking her, "Anything the matter?"<br/>
She paused, deep in thought, before saying decisively, "It can wait 'till we're both in bed." He handed over the shirt, quickly turning away when she started unbuckling her belt. He knew the sight of her undressing on his bed would probably make him lose his self control, and considering the time, he thought it best to leave it here for today. After all, he had still thoroughly enjoyed his evening with her. Not knowing quite what to do while she finished up, as she had arrived at his residence after his evening bath, and so he was already dressed in nightclothes, he moved to his drawers pretending to clean up the mess he'd made while searching for a suitable shirt for her. He heard the shuffling of covers behind him, and reckoned it was probably safe for him to make his way back to bed. He pulled down the covers on his side and got in, the woman in his bed immediately snuggling onto his chest before he could wrap both of them up with blanket. </p><p>"Aym? Do you really not know how much I miss you when I'm gone." Her voice sounded marginally pouty, which combined with her half-naked body against his, and her pet name for him, made his temperature rise a few degrees. Steeling himself, conjuring up a picture of a chaste Saint he had once read about in a theological book, he reached towards her cheek and pinched it playfully. As he was about to give her an answer, she jumped suddenly out of bed, marching out the door. He rose up onto his elbows, staring in the direction she had gone. Not long later she stomped back into the room with what he recognized to be her Scholar's Codex. She planted herself on her knees, facing him, her Codex on her lap. The sight was particularly provocative, with the shirt he had given her not nearly as large on her as he thought it would be. Being as tall as she was, one of his shirts only reached just down past her buttocks. Does this woman have no idea what torture she's putting me through, he thought in despair. I was more than prepared when I carried her in here to have a nice quiet night, but this was making everything exceedingly difficult.<br/>
"I don't think you do." She said softly. "So I'm going to show you something I've kept secret for a very <i>very</i> long time." She opened her Codex with one swift movement of her hand above the tome, the pages flipping over to the very end. She turned the book in her lap, grabbing it with both hands and thrusting it into his face. Aymeric, bemused, but grateful for anything to distract him from the love of his life, who was being woefully inconsiderate of his desires, looked in front of him. Affixed to the very back cover was a piece of parchment. As soon as he began reading, his own handwriting legible by the one candle still burning in the room, he recognized it as the letter he had sent to her before she battled Shiva. Before she helped put an end to the Dragonsong War. Before she even travelled to Ishgard as a Ward of House Fortemps. Aymeric was assaulted with so many emotions, some new, some he recognized very well.
 From behind the book which she had now used to hide her face, he heard her voice, sounding shy and squeaky, "I have a favourite Codex, but I use others, I have a favourite outfit, but still keep an entire wardrobe, but this is the one thing I take with me always. Into every battle, and to all the far flung places I go, from the moment I first received it. Do you understand?"</p><p>Aymeric froze, his thoughts racing. Of all the people who's lives she touched along the way, he truly believed his space in her heart was only a little larger than most. She had absolutely no idea what showing him this meant to him. In that moment, he didn't know what to do, but he did know he wanted every piece of her she'd let him have. He pulled the book away from her with all the care he could muster before grabbing her by whatever his hands reached first, and rolling her onto her back, his body pinning her down onto the bed, his mind completely lost to desire.</p>
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